


Medieval (English Version)

by DorchadasSonas



Series: Chaos in medieval Scotland [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate History, Medieval, Murder, Mystery, Royalty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:21:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 21,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25001572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DorchadasSonas/pseuds/DorchadasSonas
Summary: When a servent disappears from the castle, the other children who live at the same orphanage as the boy sound the alarm. They ask the royal children who live at the castle to help them figure out this mystery.
Series: Chaos in medieval Scotland [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2086044
Kudos: 1





	1. An (un)usual workday

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work in English and I translated it from dutch to English (I already wrote this whole story in dutch and I also placed that online.) So it is possible that there are a few mistakes. Please let me know if you find a mistake. I will happily correct them. :)
> 
> This is the English version of medieval (the dutch version, also on my account)

The light shone softly through the windows. Sophie woke up when the light fell on her face. She looked around the room with a sleepy expression. Her younger sister Phlanaïda was sleeping in her bed on the other side of the room. Quietly Sophie left the room. She went to the bathroom in the orphanage. She took a bath and got dressed. When she was done, she left for the dining hall.

Sophie was eating her breakfast when her sister sat down next to her. Not long after that Kathleena en Evangeline joined them. “You two are so lucky to have work at the castle. We have to make beds and wash clothes all day here at the orphanage.” Evangeline says with a sigh. “You want to trade jobs? I would love to.” Sophie murmured. “I get snubbed by Deamhanna the whole day. Luckily, my sister doesn’t have to deal with that. She is a maid for the two princes.”  
The four girls just finished eating when Phlanaïda heard the cart arrive. This cart brought the children from the orphanage to the castle for their workdays.  
together with Sophie and Tom, an annoying but funny boy, she walked to the cart. They sat down on the benches in the back of the cart and waited patiently until they arrived at the castle. When they arrived at the castle, Sophie looked up to the window above the gate. She knew that the princesses were follow their lessons there. Deamhanna listened to the sound of the hooves from the horse that went through the gate. She knew that the orphans had arrived again. She looked up shortly to lady-in-waiting Marvene. She was teaching them about the kingdom. Deamhanna looked to the table next to her. Vikadie rested her head on the table and yawned. Deamhanna sighed and stared at her book. The lesson was almost done. After this lesson they had a lesson in etiquette and after that they had free time. She had promised her sister that they would go to the forest with the two princes who also lived in the castle. Marvene closed her book. “The lesson is finished. The concentration was gone at the end, but beside that you two were doing good today. You two can go now.” Deamhanna stood up and took her book with her. Vikadie ran after her to catch up to her and walked along side her. “Are you excited to go to the forest? I know I am.” She said enthusiastic. Deamhanna sighed, while she started to walk slower. “I am excited for it as well.” She answered calmly. Sophie was the first to jump from the cart when it stopped. She helped her sister down. Tom jumped easily to the ground. The equerry approached them. “the princes and princesses are going for a ride through the forest. You three saddle their horses. When you are done Tom can finish the rest alone.” Sophie looked from her sister to Tom. “Alright, who is going to saddle which horse?” Asked Phlanaïda enthusiastic. “I will do Diablo and Pride. Sophie can take Angus and you can take care of Caraïd.” Said Tom, while he pointed to the stables of the horses he mentioned. “Alright, let’s begin.” Said Sophie while she walked to the stable of the shire.  
Phlanaïda and Sophie were calmly brushing Caraïd and Angus. Tom had already saddled Pride and now he took Diablo from his stable. The shire tried to bite him. As soon as the horse stood in the hall of the stable, he reared. He kicked wild with his front legs. “Get down you devil-beast.” Tom yelled, while he pulled hard at the rope with which he was holding the horse. Diablo landed his legs on the ground. He did not rear again, but he kept snorting while Tom lead him. Tom tied the horse to a post outside the stables. He took another rope and used it to tie the horse to a second post. This way the horse could not move his head. “He does this every time.” Tom murmured. He quickly started brushing the horse. Diablo tried to kick him and tried to bite, but he failed. Tom took Diablo’ saddle and put it on the back of the horse. He tightened the girth and put the bridle on the horse. They others had already finished saddling the horses they had to do. “Let us wait on the courtyard of the stables. We can already warm-up the horses by walking them.” Tom suggested. Sophie nodded. “Could you also take Pride. That way I can focus on keeping this devil-beast under control.” Tom said. Sophie quickly walked towards Tom and took Pride’ reins. She walked with Pride and Angus to the courtyard. Deamhanna walked to the stables after her lesson. Vikadie walked behind her. At the bottom of the stairs they were joined by the princes Alexander and Cal. The moment the four of them arrived at the courtyard, they saw that Diablo was being difficult again. Diablo reared and Tom fell to the ground. Diablo tried to hit him with his front hooves. Deamhanna quickly run towards the horse. Unknowingly she straightened her back “Diablo!” She yelled with a stern tone. The horse quickly walked towards her. Phlanaïda helped Tom up. Tom looked angry at Diablo. “That horse is possessed by a demon.” He looked at the shire who was standing calmly behind Deamhanna. “Oh, so you think my horse is possessed by a demon. If I were you, I would think about that statement again.” Deamhanna mounted her horse. She rode side-saddle, unlike Vikadie who did not care about riding in a dress and just rode normally. Alexander took his horse Pride and mounted the horse. Cal was already seated on his horses and looked around to the others. “Everyone ready?” Vikadie and Alexander nodded. “We are ready to go, Cal. Can you make sure we are back in time? I have a few lessons in the afternoon.” Said Deamhanna calmly. She acted as if the events with Tom and Diablo never happened. Cal looked dubiously at Deamhanna but decided to not say anything about it. “Alright, then we can go. And Deamhanna, we will be back on time. I have sword-practice with the guards. So, I also have to be back in time.” Cal turned his horse towards the gate and trotted away. Deamhanna also started trotting and made sure she could ride next to him. Vikadie and Alexander rode behind them. Sophie looked at them until they were out of sight. “Did you notice Deamhanna lashed out and then acted like nothing had happened?” She asked they others. “If I were you, I would think about that statement again.” Said Phlanaïda while trying to impersonate Deamhanna’ voice. “What do you think she meant with that?” She continued. Tom shrugged. “I have no idea. I am going to start mucking out the stables. I think you two should also start working.” Tom walked towards the stables and took a shovel and a wheelbarrow. Sophie nodded absently and together with her sister she walked towards the castle. Sophie was still thinking about what Deamhanna had said. Phlanaïda went to the rooms of the two princes. Sophie walked towards the room where Deamhanna and Vikadie slept. She started cleaning by making the beds. Deamhanna rode next to Cal. “That stable boy does have a point. That horse of yours sometimes does act like he serves the devil.” He said. “One time while I was walking through the stables your horse tried to bite me. I didn’t even do anything.” Alexander mentioned. “Diablo is just very protective. He can’t help it.” Deamhanna answered while she was petting her horse on the neck. “Diablo wasn’t protecting anyone when he attacked Tom. That was a horse version of attempted murder.” Said Alexander while he giggled quietly. “No, Diablo was just happy to see me.” Deamhanna snapped. “Shall we galop for a bit?” Vikadie asked quickly. She tried to stop the argument before it began. “Alright, last to be at the end of the path has to wear his worst set of clothes tomorrow.” Alexander yelled while he shot away. Deamhanna smiled at her sister and nodded to give a sign. Together they galloped after him. With a few strides they both passed Alexander. After a little while the two sisters were still in the lead, but Alexander had fallen back to last place. The sisters took their horses back to a walk. Cal caught up with them and let his horse fall back to a walk. Alexander eventually caught up with them. “Well, who lost this time?” Vikadie asked with a grin. Alexander stuck out his tong. “Shall we go back to the castle? I don’t want to be late for my practice.” Cal had already turned his horse around. Vikadie wanted to protest, but Deamhanna shot her a warning glare. The four of them galloped back to the castle. Sophie was still lost in thought about what Deamhanna had said. Meanwhile she was walking up the stairs with two buckets full of water. Because she was so lost in thought, she tripped on the last step. All the water spilled over the ground. She looked with shock at the water. Deamhanna would not be happy with this. She ran to get some towels to clean op the water. She tried to wring out as much water as possible above the buckets. After a little while most of the water was gone. Sophie sighed in relieve. Now Deamhanna would not know about it. She took the buckets and walked to the room of the princesses. She quickly started to scrub the floor. She had to have cleaned the room before the princesses came back.  
When she heard hooves, she got scared. She still had to clean more than half of the room… When the four nobles arrived at the stables again, Tom was already waiting for them. Phlanaïda stood next to him. “Did you guys enjoy the ride?” She asked politely, while they princes and princesses dismounted their horses. “It was amazing. Would you mind taking care of our horses? That way Tom can fully focus on Diablo.” Cal said, while he gave the reins of his horse to Phlanaïda. “That won’t be necessary. I will take care of my own horse and then I will take Diablo with me on a little walk. So, you are lucky today, little stable boy.” She said with a small evil grin, while she walked past Tom. She took the saddle from her horse and changed the bridle for a halter. She took her horse to a little patch of grass next to the stables. She sat down on the grass and let her horse walk around freely. Vikadie had run to her room. When she opened the door, she was met with a startled look coming from Sophie. “It’s just me. Deamhanna is on a walk with her horse.” Sophie sighed in relieve. She wanted to ask if Vikadie was willing to help, but she was scared to. She was flabbergasted when Vikadie herself offered to help her. “I don’t have anything to do. And if you want, we can go for a little ride when we are done.” Vikadie said, while she started to scrub the floor. Sophie wanted to say something, but she knew Vikadie was not like other princesses. Besides, Sophie was quite happy with the help. Deamhanna was picking at the grass. She looked at Diablo who was grazing a little farther. She was bored. Suddenly a thought came into her head. ‘what if you captured one of those orphans?’ She shook her head, shocked by the thought. The last few weeks she had more and more of those kinds of thoughts. She was slowly getting more and more scared of them. She heard Diablo neigh and snort. Startled she looked up and she saw Tom walk out of the stables. Deamhanna stared down to the ground. All the sudden it felt like she did not have any control over her body anymore. It was as if someone else was controlling her. She could only watch. She stood up and acted like she was lost deep in thought. She heard Tom put down the wheelbarrow and walk towards her. She hid her evil grin. “Yes, walk towards your own doom.” She softly whispered. Deamhanna tried to stop herself, but she still was not in control of her own body. Tom came closer and closer. When he stood next to her and tried to tap her on the shoulder, she spun around fast. She tied the ropes around his wrists. She hit him hard on the back of the head. This made him struggle a little less. “Sorry, not this time. Good try.” Deamhanna took him to the guards. “This stable boy was trying to flirt with me and that is against a lot of rules. Take him to the dungeons.” The guards nodded and took Tom with them. Deamhanna laughed while she walked back to but Diablo back in his stable. Around the start of the evening when the orphans were back at the orphanage, Sophie and Phlanaïda noticed that Tom was gone. “Maybe he was already done with his work and went home early.” Phlanaïda proposed. Sophie nodded. “That’s possible.” They walked into the dining hall of the orphanage. They sat down at the table where Evangeline and Kathleena were seated. “How was work at the castle today?” Evangeline asked. Sophie shrugged. “I didn’t have to deal with Deamhanna that much today. Her horse did cause some major problems. So, I don’t really know.” Sophie answered with a sigh. She did not want to tell them that they lost Tom. The next day they would go and look for him in the stables.


	2. The big event at the castle

Sophie and Phlanaïda were eating their breakfast when Samira came walking towards him. Samira was the owner of the orphanage. She was very friendly and cares for everyone. She makes sure everyone feels accepted. Officially she was a princess, but she gave up her royal life to care for orphans. “Good morning Samira, is something wrong?” Phlanaïda asked. “Yes, I wanted to ask you girls if Tom stayed at the castle.” “I don’t know. We couldn’t find him yesterday.” Sophie said. “Maybe he stayed to help the equerry. There are going to arrive a lot of princes and princesses today.” Sophie looked with confusion to Samira. “What do you mean?” “Did nobody at the castle tell you? Today young knights and princes from all around the country come to fight for the hand of the king’s daughters. It’s a really old tradition.” Samira explained. “You two probably have to work more in the stables and the kitchen today.” Sophie nodded and looked at Phlanaïda. She was staring with a dreamy look in her eyes.  
Sophie was baffled by the crowds and fuss at the castle. Everywhere knights, dukes, princesses and princes walked past. “Go take the horses from the guests. You can put the horses in the empty stables.” The equerry yelled from within the stables. Sophie nodded. She walked to a knight who arrived at the entrance of the stables. “Good morning, sir. Can I take your horse from you?” She asked politely. The knight nodded. “Yes, please.” Sophie took the reins. She looked at the emblem on the tack that the horse was wearing. It was the emblem of the region of Pitlochery. She took the saddle and other tack of the horse. In the stable she took the bridle of the horse. Phlanaïda walked into the stables with 3 horses from nobles of Perth. Sophie took one of the horses and put him in one of the stables with the emblem of Perth. After at least 2 hours they had put all the horses in a stable. “We have to clean our clothes and they we are expected in the grand diner hall. We have to work in the table service there.” Phlanaïda said while she cleaned the dust of her dress. Sophie sighed and did the same.  
Deamhanna looked at her sister who was putting on her formal dress. “You look beautiful, Vika. You need to wear this dress more often.” “But it’s difficult to ride horses with this dress.” Vikadie grumbled, while she was fumbling with her hair. “Come here. I will help you with your hair.” Deamhanna walked towards her sister. She took a hairpin from the drawer of her dresser. She looked shortly at her sister's hair. After a bit of trying she stepped away satisfied. She had tied her sister's hair up in a tight bun with a few loose plucks of hair that fall against the side of her face. Deamhanna took a hairpin with a big lily. She put it in her sister's hair. “Beautiful.” Vikadie smiled. “Thank you. You also look beautiful.” Vikadie pointed to the aqua-blue dress that Deamhanna was wearing. “Thank you.” Deamhanna smiled and walked to the mirror in her room. She took a hairpin with a bloodred rose from the table next to the mirror and put it in her own hair. “Let’s go.” She said when she was ready. Together with Vikadie she walked towards the dining hall.  
Sophie stood with a few other maids. They were waiting until the diner began and they had something to do again. She looked at the different tables. From every region were at least two princes and princesses. It was a really big event. She heard two princes talking about Deamhanna. Sophie knew that Deamhanna and Vikadie were the daughters of the king, but she didn’t know that that give Deamhanna so much influence. Sophie looked with a dreamy look in her eyes at the princes. Sophie startled out of her thoughts when she heard the royal announcer announce that the royal family had arrived. Sophie looked at the big doors. They slowly opened. The king and queen were the first to walk in. Sophie immediately saw the similarities between Vikadie and the queen. Deamhanna looked nothing like her parents. Behind the king and queen, Vikadie and Deamhanna had entered. Sophie sighed softly. She could continue dreaming, but she would never be a princess.


	3. The challenges

Deamhanna looked proud through the dining hall. Everyone stared at her with marvel. Well, what did you expect when you are the daughter of the king? She sat up straight and laid her arms with a graceful movement on the armrest of her throne. She smiled shortly when she saw a few princes stare at her. Quickly she looked back at her father, who stood up to start his speech. “Welcome everyone to this grand party. As Everyone already knows, today the future husbands for my two daughters will be chosen.” The king looked calmly through the room. “As generally know it’s the rule that the princesses choose what the princes and knights have to do to win their hearts.” He nodded to Deamhanna as a sign that she had to prepare for her part of the speech. “Now my dearest daughter Deamhanna will speak.” They king sat down in his throne. Deamhanna stood up gracefully. “I, Deamhanna, firstborn of the region Aberdeen, will hereby choose the challenge for all princes and knights. The challenge for them is a sword fight. But I want to see your skills from the ground and on horseback.” The princes and knights nodded. “Now my sister Vikadie will talk about the challenge she chose.” Deamhanna took a few steps back, but she did not sit down in her throne. Vikadie jumped up from her throne and smiled. “I, Vikadie, second born of the region Aberdeen, choose the challenge for all the second born princes and knights in this room. The challenge will be shooting bow and arrow from the ground and on horseback.” Deamhanna sighed softly. “Are you serious?” She hissed softly at Vikadie. Then she stepped forward. “Let the challenges begin.”  
Sophie tightened the girth of the last horse. She had watched a little bit of the sword fighting. It was hard against hard. All the princes and knights wanted to be the winner of the challenge. Eventually Cal was the winner of the challenge. Sophie had learned from other maids that Cal and Alexander were the sons of a well-known duke. The two boys were invited by the king himself to live here at the castle and train with the royal guard. Now the horseback part of the challenge was about to start. All the maids helped with saddling the horses. Sophie had looked if she saw Tom somewhere, but he was nowhere to be found. Sophie brought the last horse to his rider.  
Phlanaïda stood next to her sister. “I am so tired. I want this day to be over.” “You are not the first one who isn’t happy about this.” Sophie and Phlanaïda turned around in confusion. Vikadie stood behind them. She had the halter for her shire in her hand. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to watch the challenges?” Sophie asked. “The princes and knights are still fighting for my sister. So, I could go for a ride in the forest. Do you want to come with me? Alexander said I could always use his horse if I needed another horse. And one of you two could ride on Bucas, the draft-horse from the orphanage.” “Do you mean that?” Phlanaïda asked enthusiast. “We need to stay here to help.” Sophie stuttered. “Of course, I mean it, Phlanaïda. I asked my father and he said it was allowed.” Vikadie had taken her horse out of the stable and was putting the saddle on his back. “Alright. I will ride Bucas. But we do not have a saddle for him, right?” Sophie asked. “Oh, that doesn’t matter. You can ride with my saddle.” Vikadie took the saddle of her horse and put it on Bucas. After that she ran to the tack room and came back with a sheep skin and a separate girth. “I will ride with this.” She said with a smile. They all saddled their horses. When they were done, they took their horses to the court and mounted them. Sophie sighed in relief. It has been to long since she had ever ridden a horse. She could ride a little bit. When she still lived with her parents, their neighbour had a draft-horse. She was allowed to ride it. When the neighbour died, Sophie and her parents inherited the horse. Three years later the horse died from old age.  
In the meantime the girls had ridden to the forest. “This is quite amazing. I never thought that I would ever ride a horse. And now I am riding on a horse that is owned by someone with a high status.” Phlanaïda exclaimed proud. Sophie nodded. She was also quite amazed. “Shall we trot for a bit? A bit further is a path where we can canter if you want.” Vikadie proposed. Sophie and Phlanaïda nodded.  
After half an hour the girls returned at the stables. “This was amazing. I didn’t know you could ride that well.” Vikadie said to Sophie. They rode onto the court of the stables. When they rode around the corner Sophie’ stomach dropped. Deamhanna stood there waiting for them. She had her arms crossed in front of her chest and her eyes spit fire. “Vikadie, where have you been? You are five minutes late!” She yelled. Vikadie quickly jumped off her horse and stared at the ground. “I am sorry, sister. I was just riding with Sophie and Phlanaïda.” “And that is exactly the problem. They are orphans. They don’t deserve to ride our horse.” Deamhanna snapped capricious, while she looked with an evil grin towards Sophie and Phlanaïda. Deamhanna turned towards Vikadie again. “You can mount your horse again. We are going to ride to the place where your challenges are being held.” Deamhanna spun around on her heels towards Sophie and Phlanaïda. “As for you two. Take care of the horses and put them in their stables.” Deamhanna walked past them and deemed them not worthy of another glance.  
Deamhanna overlooked the terrain with a proud expression. She sat high on the back of her horse. Together with her sister she was watching the princes and knights shoot with their bow and arrow. “You have some good boys you can choose from.” She whispered with a smile to her sister. Vikadie shrugged. “Did you pick a prince?” She asked. “Probably Cal, father would be happy with that. But I also liked the prince from Lerwick. He tried really hard.” Deamhanna stared absently in front of her. Vikadie sighed softly and looked at the shooting. The last prince had shot his arrows. “That one has good tactics and he also shoots close to bullseye.” Vikadie whispered. Deamhanna looked at the prince. Then she smiled at her sister. “Not a bad choice.” She whispered back. “What is the planning for now?” Vikadie asked quickly. Deamhanna looked around while she was thinking. Most of the princes and knights had gone back to their families for now. “First we have your second challenge. After that we have a little bit of free time. Then at the beginning of the evening we have diner with everyone.” Deamhanna summed up, while the first knight rode towards the higher targets with his bow readied.  
Sophie was working in the stables when Deamhanna entered with her horse. Sophie got scared and tried to act as normal as possible. She expected that Deamhanna was going to yell at her again. That is why she was quite surprised when Deamhanna just walked past her with her horse. Sophie quickly continued with mucking out the stables. She kept a close eye on Deamhanna. But when Sophie looked two minutes later, she noticed that the princess had already left. Sophie sighed in relief and continued with what she was doing.  
Deamhanna put on her cape without much thinking. She felt as if someone else was controlling her again. She could only watch as she quickly descended the stairs of the castle. When she was in the entrance-hall of the castle, she checked if nobody could see her. Then she run down the winding stairs towards the dungeons. She tried to stop herself, but she could not. She slowly approached the guards who were standing in the hall. “Did he complain?” She asked with a stern tone. The guards bowed to her. “No, your excellency. May we ask what your plan with him is now?” Deamhanna thought for a second. “Let me see him first.” The guard opened the door of the cell. Deamhanna flashed tom a faint grin. He looked back at her with a furious look. “You devil! What do you want from me?” He yelled. “Look at you. You figured out the meaning of my name. I am proud of you.” Deamhanna laughed sarcastically. She ignored his question. She leaned against the wall next to the door and looked at him with a mysterious look. “What are you going to do with me? How long are you going to keep me here?” Tom tried to sound brave and unfaced, but the fear seeped into his voice. “Oh, you will never leave this place alive.” Deamhanna got scared from what she said, but she could not stop herself. She could only watch how she took her throwing-knife and started playing with it. She started twirling the knife between her fingers. “I am probably going to torture you for a few nights.” Tom got scared. “What? No! But why? I haven’t done anything!” He yelled. Deamhanna throw her knife in his direction. Tom closed his eyes, but when he opened them, he saw that the knife got stuck between two stones in the fall. Just a few inches away from his face. Tom looked with fear in his eyes from the knife to Deamhanna. “Shut your mouth. You haven’t done anything, but your family did.” She turned around and gracefully left the cell. She turned towards the guards. “Torture him until I come back. That will be after diner.” Deamhanna walked towards the winding stairs. When she set foot on the first step, she could her screams come from the cell. With an evil grin she continued to climb the stairs. At the top of the stairs she got control of her body back. She hid her face in her hands. “What is happening here?” She sobbed quietly. She looked at her clothes. They were covered in dust. She quickly ran to her room.


	4. The start of the investigation

Deamhanna ran to her room. She wiped the dust of her clothes. She quickly fixed her hair. Deamhanna looked in the mirror and sighed. She couldn’t explain what happened. She wiped away the tears that were rolling of her cheeks. She quickly stood up straight and took a deep breath. When she was ready, she went downstairs again to the dining-hall. She took a deep breath before she entered the dining-hall. Everyone she passed greeted her with a deep bow. Politely she made a bow back every time. She walked to her father and mother, who sat at the head of the table. Her father was busy talking to some old friends he met during a war. Her mother was giving commands to some servants. “Mother, why are there two tables? I thought the children were allowed to sit with the adults.” Deamhanna asked. “Your father and I decided that it would be more fun for you when you are seated with people of your own age.” Deamhanna rolled her eyes, but walked over to the other table. Immediately a prince set down next to her. He was from Perth and Deamhanna knew that he had participated in her challenge. “You were quite a good fighter. You just dropped your defence a bit at the end.” She commented friendly. “Thank you, your highness. I will be more aware of my defence the next time.” The prince looked quite nervous. “You were quite intimidating with your beautiful shire horse. He is elegant, but also robust and big.” Another prince said as he sat down at the table. “My name is Maven. I am the little brother of the nervous mess.” He pointed to the prince that was sitting next to Deamhanna. “It’s really nice to meet you. And thank you for the compliment about my horse. It is indeed an impressive animal. Sometimes he can be a bit strong, but he will always protect me. My horse is also one of the horses used for hanged, drawn and quartered punishment.” Deamhanna explained. Meanwhile more people had joined them. “I am personally responsible for the health and well-being of these four horses, because they are quite sensible. I am also one of the few people who knows how the special tack for the executions works.” She continued. “But that doesn’t sound like a job for a princess.” A younger prince who had joined in spoke up. Deamhanna laughed softly. “True, but I am the only one who was willing to do it. And I do it as long as I can remember.”  
After diner everyone had some free time. The servants were done for now. Sophie and Phlanaïda returned to the stables were the cart was waiting for them. Sophie walked towards the driver of the cart. “Jan, have you seen Tom today? We thought he had stayed at the stable to help you this morning, but we didn’t see him.” She asked worried. “No, sorry girls. I haven’t seen him. And we need to leave now, because I am on a bit of a time schedule. Sophie and Phlanaïda climbed on the cart and the cart slowly came into motion.  
Samira was waiting outside when the cart arrived back at the orphanage. “You couldn’t find Tom, could you?” She asked when she didn’t see him on the cart. “Where can that boy be?” She murmured. Slowly Samira walked back inside. Sophie looked at her sister. “He probably isn’t in that much trouble. He can be irritating, but he is not difficult and careless.” Sophie and Phlanaïda walked to Samira’s room and slowly opened the door. “Samira, are you alright?” Phlanaïda asked. Samira looked up and sighed. “I just want to know where he is. I am worried about him. Phlanaïda hugged Samira. “We will find him.” Meanwhile Maria, a orphan girl of nineteen years old, walked into the room. “But isn’t it weird? This is the umpteenth time a orphan boy has gone missing from the castle in almost four years. All of those boys worked in the stables. That is just asking for questions.” Other children at the orphanage had also come into the room. “Do you really dare to question the royal family?” a young boy asked. “Isn’t it obvious! Something is happening there and nobody seems to know about it!” Marie said indignantly. “It’s time that we figure out what is happening at the castle.” Phlanaïda cheered at put her fist up in the air. “Who is going to help is find out what’s going on at the castle?” Most of the children raised their hands. Everyone laughed when Samira raised her hand determined. “I am with you all. It’s important to have some nobles who are in on the plan. Phlanaïda, you are good friends with Vikadie and Alexander. Can you ask them if they want to help?” Phlanaïda nodded. “The ones who work at the market can ask around there.” Phlanaïda proposed. Enthusiast about the adventure, they started planning their investigation.  
Deamhanna was tired when she entered her room. Vikadie also entered the room. She let herself fall on her bed. They had had an evening ball and both of them were really tired. Deamhanna closed her eyes for a few seconds. When she opened her eyes again she felt that she had lost the control of her body again. Vikadie was asleep. Deamhanna quickly left her room and walked towards the dungeons. When the guards saw her, they opened the door of the cell. Deamhanna tried to get the control of her body back, but it was hopeless. Tom was still panting from resisting against the torture. “Y-you monster.” He panted. “W=why are y-you doing this? I have d-done nothing w-wrong.” Tom sank down on his knees. “Why?” He whispered. Deamhanna knelt down next to him. She put her fingers under his chin and pushed his head up, so that he had to look in her eyes. “Sometimes I just want to murder someone, I get bored really easily. With such a secret life is more of a challenge, don’t you think?” Deamhanna flashed an evil smile. “And you are a danger to my life and my family.” She hissed. Tom looked at her with fear. “What do you mean?” He stuttered. “Your father tried to kill my family. And I know you are just like your father.” Tom shook his head so he didn’t have to look into her eyes anymore. “It is a horrible secret to keep. I hope they find what you are doing and burn you at the stake.” Deamhanna stood up and walked away. She saw that her throwing-knife was still in the wall. She pulled it out and walked to the door. “You are a coward. The other orphans will miss me and they will come and find me. They are probably already looking for me.” Tom yelled at her. “I hope they find you in time then. Two more days and they will find pieces of your body in the forest.” Deamhanna walked out of the cell with an evil grin. She turned to the guards. “You don’t have to stand here. But don’t talk about this. With no-one.” She hissed. “If I find out one of you talked about it, you will be the next one I lock up.” After that she went up to her room again. When she was in her room she felt the control of her body return to her. She let herself fall on the bed and started sobbing. She didn’t want any of this to happen, but she couldn’t stop it. She was scared about everything that was happening.


	5. The strange reaction

When Sophie left the orphanage the next day, she was quite shocked to see that Vikadie, Alexander en Cal were waiting for her outside. They were mounted high on their horses. Vikadie held two other horses by their reins. Cal and Alexander also held a horse. “What are you doing here? I mean, aren’t you all supposed to be at the castle?” Sophie stammered. “My cousin had sent me a letter. She wanted us to bring you and your sister to the castle.” Vikadie explained. “She also mentioned that you wanted to tell us something.” Cal said. “And Deamhanna told us that we needed to bring two new stable hands. The others needed some help, she said.” Alexander said while he pointed to the four horse. “Yes, of course. I will get my sister. And I have two friends who can work at the stables.” Sophie ran back inside and gathered her sister, Kathleena and Evangeline.  
After seven minute she found everyone, and they all had mounted a horse. They quickly left. While they rode through the forest Cal asked Sophie what the thing was Samira had mentioned. “Tom is missing.” Evangeline, Kathleena and Phlanaïda answered at the same time.” “Tom? Do you mean that boy who got almost stomped to death by Diablo?” Alexander asked. “Yes, that boy. We haven’t seen him since that day.” Sophie said quietly. Tom could be irritating, but she was still quite worried about him. “The last time I saw him was with that discussion he had with Deamhanna. Maybe we can ask her about it.” Vikadie proposed, while she trotted away. The rest followed her.  
After a little while they arrived at the castle. “We are here.” Alexander took his horse back to a slow walk. “Three guesses as to who the person dressed in all black by the stables is.” Vikadie added. Two friesians and the shire that Deamhanna always rode were tied up outside the stables. Deamhanna was busy brushing her shire horse. Cal coughed to get her attention. Startled, Deamhanna dropped the brush. She looked at him with an angry look on her face. “Oh, it’s just you. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I am quite busy.” “We’ve noticed.” Cal said. “Why do you need those four horses anyway?” He asked while he pointed to the horses. Deamhanna ignored him and instead walked towards Evangeline who was seated on a friesian. “You, what is your name?” Deamhanna asked. There was an irritated undertone in her voice. “M-my name is Evangeline. Can I be of service, your highness?” “Yes, you can do something for me. Dismount that horse, take the saddle of and tie it up next to the other horses. And quickly.” Deamhanna bit angrily at her and she threw a halter towards Evangeline. Then she turned around and walked towards the tack room. The others also dismounted their horses. Alexander had put his horse in his stable and left the stable building. He was a bit confused when he heard someone crying. He saw that Evangeline was trying to tie the friesian to the post. Her hands were shaking, and tears rolled over her cheeks. Alexander walked towards her. “Is everything alright?” He asked calmly. “I am just a bit stressed. All the sudden I have to work at the castle and Deamhanna immediately acts so mean. I just don’t know what to do with it.” She sobbed quietly. “I can’t even tie this horse to the post.” Alexander took the rope from her and quickly tied the horse to the post. “I am free today. Would you like to come with me on a walk through the forest? Maybe it will help you to calm down.” He proposed. Evangeline nodded, while she wiped her tears away.  
Deamhanna picked up two special sets of tack for the friesians. She was again to busy with arranging everything that she did not notice Cal, Vikadie and Sophie looking at her. She put down all the sets of tack near the horses. Cal coughed to get her attention and Deamhanna got startled and jumped again. “What do you want?!” She hissed. She quickly corrected herself. “I am sorry. I lashed out and I should not have done that. What did you want to know?” Deamhanna asked calmly. “I Have a question for you?” He said, while he kept an eye on her. “Well go on with it. I am going to continue tacking up the horses.” Deamhanna walked towards the first horse and picked up his tack. “Do you know where that stableh- “Cal realised what tack Deamhanna was putting on the horses. “This are the sets of tack for quartering. Why are you preparing the horses for quartering?” He yelled at Deamhanna. She only looked at him with a cool expression. “Do you know about that farmers family that got murdered a few months ago?” Call nodded. “They found the murderer, and this is his punishment.” With a faint smile she continued to the next horse.  
Cal was so confused that he completely forgot about the question he had been asking. When Deamhanna was done with al the horses, she took each of them by the reins. “Are you three coming to the show?” She asked with a mysterious grin. Cal sighed and followed Deamhanna. “You don’t have to go, right?” Sophie asked. “Unfortunately, I have to. This is one of the few obligations I have.” Cal said. “I will go with you.” Sophie said while she ran so, she could catch up with Cal. “No, it is horrible. You don’t have to go.” Cal said quickly, but Sophie was already walking next to him.


	6. Escalation

Deamhanna was waiting. The horses were standing beside her. The king was reading the verdict. “Now the punishment will be executed.” The king said with a loud voice. Deamhanna took the four horses by the reins and walked towards the prisoner. She took one of the horses out of the group. She put the handcuff that was connected to the tack of the horse around the ankle of the prisoner. She took the other horses and set them at his other ankle and his wrists. “This is no work for a princess.” The prisoner said angry. “Keep your mouth shut. You are not in a position to talk. And you are not the first to say that.” Deamhanna hissed. She placed the last handcuff around the wrist of the prisoner. When she was done, she took some distance from the horses and the prisoner. Diablo started scraping with his hoof and softly snorted. “Easy, Diablo.” Deamhanna whispered. She looked at her father for the sign to start. She felt that she was loosing control over her body again. She shook her head. It helped a little bit, but soon the feeling came back. From the corner of her eye, she saw that Cal looked at her with suspicion in his eyes. Deamhanna looked back at her father. He gave her the sign. As if it were a reflex, she stood up straight. “Diablo!” She waited until she had the attention from her horse. “Pull!” She said stern. Diablo immediately trotted away. The other horses slowly started to pull. Deamhanna felt the control over her body slip away and she heard herself talk without the possibility to stop it. “Diablo, no trotting. Just walk.” She hissed. The horse immediately started walking. The murderer screamed in pain. Deamhanna laughed softly. She hid her smile behind her hand. With a quick hand gesture she let the horses trot away. “Your end is close. We will meet again in hell.” She whispered under her breath. Deamhanna snapped her fingers. Diablo bucked, which caused the prisoner to smash his neck on the stone ground. The prisoner died immediately. “A little present from me to you. Now you won’t have to feel the worst part.” Deamhanna whispered with an evil grin. She saw that Cal still looked at her with suspicion, but eventually he and Sophie walked away.

When the horses were done, Deamhanna took all of them back to the stables. One by one she took of the tack and brushed them. When they were all clean she put them all back in their stables. She quickly cleaned the tack. After that she ran to her room. She changed her current dress for a clean formal dress. When she was done, she walked down the stairs. She quickly tried to walk towards the dungeons, when she saw Cal en Sophie. Cal saw Deamhanna first. He tried to guide Sophie away, but Sophie ran towards Deamhanna. “Are you alright? It looked like your head hurt, when you were waiting with the horses.” Deamhanna shook her head. “I am fine. The sun was shining in my eyes. That was a bit painful.” Sophie nodded. “It was cloudy.” He said confused. Deamhanna looked angrily at him. “Maybe the sun irritates me faster.” She hissed. Cal looked at her with narrow eyes. “Maybe… Just know that I keep an eye on you.” He bit towards her. He softly pulled Sophie with him while he left. Deamhanna watched him with an angry expression until he left the room. She quickly ran down the stairs towards the basement. She took the key from the keyring that hang from her belt. Tom was drawing in the dust with a little stick. He looked up when Deamhanna entered the cell. He stood up and ran towards her. He tried to grab her. Before he could reach her, the chains got tight. He almost fell back with the force from the chains that pulled back. “Are you trying to strangle me?” She asked calmly. Deamhanna heard a voice whisper to her in what way she could punish Tom. She aggressively pulled his arms behind his back. “Ouch! I am sorry. I didn’t want to strangle you. I never meant that.” He screamed. Deamhanna closed the door and the she freed Tom from his handcuffs. Before he could do anything he was pushed against the wall by Deamhanna. She pushed so hard she closed off his throat. “Today you will be tortured by me.” Deamhanna flashed him an evil smile. She could hear that her voice was different than normal, but she wasn’t scared of it. Tom however looked very scared at her. “Who are you?” He whispered, while he tried to push her hand of his throat. “Let me go!” He screamed with the little air he had left. He started coughing. “Let… go… off.. me! I don’t… deserve.. this.” He tried desperately to scratch her arms in hope that she would let go of him, but he felt his own strength slip away. “I’m… suffocating…” He murmured with his last breath. Deamhanna immediately let go of him. Tom fell down to the ground, while he gasped and coughed for air. “I wish you had strangled me. Then I didn’t have to look at you again.” He said with a faint smile. He immediately screamed from the pain. Deamhanna had thrown her throwing knife just above his knee. He tried to pull the knife out, but Deamhanna stopped him. “If you take the knife out in the wrong way, you will destroy your own leg. You wouldn’t want to do that, would you?” Tom looked at her with shock in his eyes. “And I have to believe that you will pull it out safely?” He whispered. Deamhanna didn’t listen and pulled the knife out quickly. Tom screamed from the pain. “Which torture session is worse? This one or the one from yesterday?” “This one.” Tom gasped. “Good.” Deamhanna hissed. She put the handcuffs back on his wrists. After that she quickly left the cell, but she left the door open. Two minutes later she came back with a long iron rod. At the end of the rod was a little plate with a the shape of a letter D with devil horns. With her knife she cut open his sleeve. “What are you going to do?” Tom asked. He didn’t show any emotion, because he knew it wouldn’t matter. “Branding.” Deamhanna murmured. “What?!” Tom asked, while he tried to crawl away. “This!” Deamhanna pushed the hot rod on his upper arm. Tom screamed and tried to get away from the hot rod. Deamhanna pushed the rod a little harder on his skin and then she took the rod away. She stood up and left to put the rod away. She quickly came back. She looked at the brand on his arm. Tom also looked at it. “What does the sign mean?” He asked. “You won’t believe me if I told you. I have to go now. Otherwise the others will start to miss me.” 

Deamhanna walked to her room. When she entered her room she realised what she had done. She brushed the dust of her clothes and let herself fall on her bed. She started to sob quietly. “I don’t want this. Why can’t I stop this?” She buried her face in her hands. “Why does this happen to me. What did I do wrong? What did I do that other people didn’t” Deamhanna didn’t notice that Vikadie had entered the room. “Deamhanna?” Vikadie walked towards her sister. “Is everything alright? You can always talk to me. You know that, right?” Deamhanna sat up and softly pushed Vikadie away. “I am fine. It was just a headache.” Vikadie looked concerned. “You’ve not fallen ill, have you? That would be a problem. The kingdom needs you.” “No, I am not ill. Just leave me alone.” Vikadie sighed. “Alright, I trust you. I am going to change and then I am going to bed. Maybe you should get some sleep as well.” Deamhanna nodded. She changed to her sleepwear and went to bed.


	7. A tense dinner

It was early in the morning. The sky was still red from the sunrise. Sophie and Vikadie were standing on the courtyard of the castle. The stood in the training field and Sophie was holding a bow with an arrow. She held the bow up with a shaking hand. “Don’t hold the arrow, put two or three fingers on the string of the bow. Just under the arrow.” Vikadie softly changed the position of Sophie her hand. “You are doing great. Now you pull back until the string is close to your chin. Wait… and let the string go!” The arrow left the bow and landed in the outer ring of the shooting target. Sophie sighed. “This is difficult. You have to be really strong. The bow is so incredibly heavy. But I want to learn how to protect myself, so I am happy that you want to teach me.” Sophie said to Vikadie. Cal joined them on the field. “Can you believe this one can only hit bullseye.” He said while he pointed to Vikadie. “Are you here to practice?” Vikadie asked, while she pulled the arrow out of the shooting target. Cal shook his head. “I have an invitation from the king.” He pulled a letter from behind his back. He gave the letter to Sophie and he bowed slightly. Sophie quickly read the letter. “The king wants me to have diner with him and his family. Phlanaïda, Kathleena en Evangeline are also allowed to come. “Do you accept the invitation?” Vikadie asked. “Of course. It sounds amazing.” “We still have to wait for quite a long time. Do you want to join us on a ride with the horses? You can borrow a horse from here.” Sophie stared at Cal. She looked away shy. “Are you sure? The last time I rode a horse from here Deamhanna got really angry.” Cal smiled sweetly. “I will personally make sure that Deamhanna doesn’t get angry.” Sophie flashed a small smile. “My tasks aren’t finished yet. I will quickly finish them.” She ran towards the castle. Cal looked at Vikadie. “Can you help Sophie and her friends to find some good clothes for tonight?” “Leave it to me.”  
It was early in the afternoon. Sophie and Phlanaïda were chatting while the walked to the stables. Evangeline and Kathleena were busy working at the stable. “Evangeline, do you know where Cal is?” She pointed into one of the paths in the stable. “He was saddling up some horses.” “Thank you.” Phlanaïda wanted to walk further, but Sophie waited. “Are you two almost ready? Then you can come as well.” Evangeline looked at Sophie with a confused look. “What are we going to do?” “I am going to make a ride through the forest with Cal. And you are also allowed to come.” Evangeline and Kathleena looked excited at each other. “We will finish mucking out the last few stables and then we come.” “We will see you then. I will go find Cal.” Sophie and Phlanaïda walked further. They found Cal in the hallway where the horses from the royal family were housed. “Ah, there you two are. Did you ask Evangeline and Kathleena?” Cal asked, while he walked out from one of the stables. Sophie nodded. “They are finishing their tasks and then the are coming.” Cal smiled. “That is alright. I have already saddled all of the horses.” He pointed to four stables. “You can choose one of these horses. They are all easy horses, that way you don’t have to be scared if you can’t ride that well.” Sophie looked into the stables. She saw Bucas, the draft from the orphanage in one of the stables. She did not have time to question why he was standing in this hallway. “I will ride Bucas again.” She said. Phlanaïda also had chosen a horse. When Evangeline and Kathleena arrived they also quickly chose their horses. Cal had taken his horse out of his stable and mounted in the hallway of the stable. He rode to the courtyard and waited there for the girls. The four girls took their horses by the reins and walked to the courtyard where the mounted their horses. “We are going to the forest. There we can ride around in peace.” Cal said, while he looked at the others. The nodded. Cal let his horse trot and rode in front of the group when the left the courtyard.

They where quite quickly in the forest. Cal let his horse canter. He quickly looked back. Sophie rode close behind him. Phlanaïda and Evangeline rode behind Sophie. Kathleena rode a little lonely at the back. They quickly rode through the forest. On top of a hill Cal let his horse stop. The others stopped next to him. “when it’s to busy at the castle I come here. Just after this hill lies a lake between the trees. It is beautiful there. A bit further is an old ruin. I do not go there often, because it is not completely safe. But sometimes a still walk around there. Just to explore.” Sophie looked at Cal. She noticed that slowly she wanted to be closer and closer to Cal. Quickly she shook her head. That could never happen.  
Cal looked at the others. “Shall we take the long route back? At the time we arrive back at the castle it’s almost time for diner.” The all nodded. Sophie was still daydreaming about Cal. Cal let his horse trot away and the others quickly followed him. They rode past the lake. Cal was totally right; the lake was beautiful. It looked like it came straight out of a story or a myth. Next, they cantered past the ruin. It slowly started to get dark.

Back at the stables Cal took over all the reins from all the horses. “I will take care of all the horses. You four can go to the bedchamber of Vikadie and Deamhanna. Vikadie will help you all with your clothes.” Sophie and the others quickly walked quickly towards the castle. When they entered the main hall, they saw Vikadie walk up the stairs. Vikadie noticed them as well. “Ah, there you are. Follow me to my room.” The group entered the Vikadie her room. “This is my side of the room. If your scared that Deamhanna will get angry, you can stay on this side.” Vikadie said, while she pointed to her bed. Sophie and Evangeline sat down on Vikadie her bed. Phlanaïda and Kathleena looked at each other and sat down on Deamhanna her bed. Vikadie looked at the girls. “Who wants to go first?” Phlanaïda raised her hand. She quickly jumped up. Vikadie studied Phlanaïda for a little while. Then she started searching in her closet. After a little while she pulled out a mint-green dress out of the closet. She gave it to Phlanaïda, who tried on the dress. She spun in a little circle to show the dress. “It’s beautiful, Phlan. You look like a princess.” Sophie said with a smile. Vikadie looked at Phlanaïda and quickly put her hair in a loose bun. A few streaks of hair were loosely hanging around her face. While Phlanaïda looked in the mirror, Vikadie gave a purple dress to Evangeline. She tried it on and Vikadie made a tight braid in her hair. Kathleena got a blue dress and she let her hair hang loose. “You all look beautiful.” Sophie said amazed. Vikadie grinned a mischievous grin. “Now it’s your turn.” Vikadie pulled a red dress out of the closet. “That is a beautiful dress. It’s amazing.” Sophie said while she quickly tried it on. “It’s actually one of Deamhanna’s dresses. She won’t remember it though.” Vikadie set down a pair of black shoes while she said that. “Put on these shoes. They will finish your look.” Sophie stepped in the shoes, while Vikadie looked what she could do with Sophie her hair. Vikadie started braiding. She made a single braid that ended in a double braid. “Thank you.” Sophie said. “No problem.” Vikadie said. She quickly looked at the door when it swung open. Deamhanna walked in with an angry attitude. Cal en Alexander immediately followed. “I know I was late, but I was going to show up. I promise.” Deamhanna said. She just seamed to realise that Sophie and the others were there as well. “Vika, why are these servant girls in our room?” Sophie stared to the ground. Before Vikadie could answer, Cal stepped forward. “We came here to take the girls so you can change your clothes in peace.” Cal reached out his hand towards Sophie, who quickly took his hand and stood close to him. Cal also reached out his hand towards Kathleena. He took them both down to the dining hall. Alexander took Evangeline and Phlanaïda with him.

Two servants held open the doors of the dining hall when Cal and Alexander arrived with the girls. Sophie looked around the hall. She never really came in the dining hall when she was working. Er was just one table in the room. The queen was talking with some of the servants. The king looked up from some letters when the doors opened. “Ah, our guests have arrived.” Cal brought Sophie and Kathleena to their spot at the table. Sophie was seated to the left of the king. Meanwhile Deamhanna had entered the room with Vikadie close behind. “Girls, you are late. Normally you are always on time, Dorchadas.” The queen said. Deamhanna sighed. “My room was being used as changing room for some servants.” She bit towards Vikadie. Then Deamhanna seemed to realise that Sophie was seated next to the king. Deamhanna huffed angrily and took her seat at the table. Kathleena, Phlanaïda and Evangeline took their seat next to Sophie. Cal took to seat across from Sophie. To do that he had to take the seat next to Deamhanna. Alexander was the first to start talking, when everyone had been served their drink. “Your highness, do you know the boy who worked in the stables. His name was Tom.” The king nodded. “Yes, I know him. Friendly boy, he loves to make jokes I believe.” Alexander softly bit his lip, while he was thinking how he was going to say the next part. “He has been missing for 3 days now. We were hoping you had seen or heard something.” “I am sorry Alexander; I haven’t seen him.” Alexander sat down in his seat in defeat. “That’s strange father. He has gone missing, but nobody has seen him.” Vikadie said. “We have asked everyone.” “That’s not completely true.” Said Cal stern. “Yes, we have asked everyone. But someone did not answer. And that person is Deamhanna.” Deamhanna nearly choked on her drink of water. “Are you suspecting me for his disappearance?” She bit towards him. “Maybe, maybe not.” Cal sat up straight and looked at het carefully. “I will have you know that I saw Tom in the forest a few days ago. But that is the last time I saw him.” It was clear from the tone in her voice that she was done with the conversation.  
After a while Sophie thought of something. “Deamhanna, is it true that you cared for the execution horses from a young age? I heard someone say that on the market.” “That is right, yes. Why do you want to know?” Deamhanna asked calmly. “I watched the last execution you did with the horses and I must say it was horrible. How can you do that when you are so young.” Sophie asked astonished. “I learned from a young age that some people are evil, and those evil people should be punished with a punishment equal to their crime.” Deamhanna said with a twisted grin. “And I will do anything to keep my future kingdom safe.” After that Deamhanna acted as if she was distracted, to stop the conversation.  
“We are losing the important point here.” Cal said, while he slammed his fist on the table. “Deamhanna, you said you saw him in the forest. Where in the forest?” “He saw him not to far from the main path through the forest. And it was quite deep in the forest.” Deamhanna explained quickly. Cal stared at her with a sharp look. “You suspect me of something, don’t you?!” She snapped, while she sprung up from her chair. “I am doing my best to help you all, but Cal here doesn’t trust me. Well, now you can all forget it.” The queen tried to calm Deamhanna down, but she stormed out of the dinning hall. Cal sighed. “I just don’t trust her, and she just doesn’t answer normally.” Cal quickly looked away when the queen shot him an angry look. “I am really sorry, your highness. I didn’t mean to talk bad about your daughter.” He muttered softly.


	8. Late in the night

It was late in the night. Deamhanna lay awake, waiting for her sister to fall asleep. When Vikadie slept, Deamhanna quietly left her bed. She softly walked towards the window. She looked at the moon. It was around midnight. As quietly as possible she sneaked into the hall. She made her way over to the room where Cal slept. Slowly she opened the door. It was really dark in the room. The bed stood in de back left corner of the room. Deamhanna quickly scanned the room. It didn’t take to long for her eyes to adjust to the dark. She immediately noticed the stand with the fighting equipment. As quiet as possible she made her way over to the stand. “I need to take his sword. And I need to check for other weapons.” She whispered to herself. Very carefully she pulled the sword out of the scabbard. She scared herself when the tip of the sword accidentally hit the ground. Cal only turned around in his bed, but continued sleeping. Quickly Deamhanna looked at the equipment again. She noticed a little dagger on the belt of the equipment. She took the dagger and the sword and left the room. She ran towards the stables and opened her own tack room. She tossed the sword and the dagger in a corner under some blankets. Then she closed the door and made sure to lock it. She quickly ran back to her room and quietly she went back to bed.

The next morning Deamhanna slowly made her way to the dining hall. She yawned when she entered the hall. Vikadie and Alexander were already seated at the table. “Have you slept well? You seem quite tired.” Vikadie said concerned. “I just lay awake this night. I might have been a bit paranoid. But I am fine.” Deamhanna answered. She sat down next to Vikadie. “Do you want to join us? We are going to pick up Sophie and her friends from the orphanage.” Deamhanna looked confused. “I thought the stayed the night at the castle.” Vikadie shook her head. “They wanted to go back to the orphanage. But are you coming with us?” Deamhanna shrugged. “Sure, of course.” She answered, while she picked up some bread from the table. “When do you want to go?” She asked. “When Cal is awake and all of us have eaten.” At that moment Cal walked into the room. Deamhanna and Cal shortly stared at each other with a sharp look. Then Deamhanna looked down at her plate. “Good morning. Have you slept well, Cal?” She asked with a flat tone. Cal sighed. “I woke up in the middle of the night. I don’t really know why. But beside that I slept fine.” Deamhanna quickly stood up. “I am going to the stables. I see you there, Vikadie.” Vikadie nodded. “See you there.”

Deamhanna had already saddle her own horse and was just putting the bridle on one of the friesians when Vikadie walked in. “Are you ready? Cal and Alexander are waiting with the other horses.” Deamhanna nodded. Deamhanna took the reins of her horse and the friesian and took them outside. She quickly mounted her horse. Vikadie walked towards her own horse and mounted it. “Let’s go.” Alexander trotted away. The others followed him. When they we’re all in the forest, Alexander held his horse in so he could ride next to Vikadie at the back of the group. “Why did you ask Deamhanna to come with us? You know Cal doesn’t trust her.” “But she is my sister. I can’t let her fall. Why doesn’t Cal trust her?” Alexander looked quickly around. “Cal thinks she set up some of the guards against us. The disappearance of Tom is very strange. And last night his sword was stolen. That is probably why he woke up.” Vikadie looked at Alexander. “What?! Does nobody know where his sword is? Did he not lose it?” Cal rode next to Vikadie on the other side. “The servants cleaned my sword that evening and then I placed it in the scabbard. So I know for certain it was stolen.” “And the guards didn’t see anything?” Vikadie said protective. She looked at her sister who rode at the front of the group. “I don’t think Deamhanna could ever steal something from someone. She is the successor, she is forbidden to do anything wrong.” The group stopped talking when Deamhanna turned around. “We’ve arrived at the orphanages.” Deamhanna said calmly. Vikadie trotted towards her. “I will go look for Sophie.” When they arrived at the door of the orphanages they saw Samira standing outside. She looked up when she heard them. “There are my two favourite nieces.” She said while she walked towards Vikadie and Deamhanna. Cal and Alexander waited at a distance. Samira looked sad and worried.” “Is everything alright, Samira?” Vikadie asked. “Tom is still missing. I am just so worried. That poor boy. He was just three when he came her. His father was murder by the guards. They thought he had planned an attack on the king. His mother was killed by bandits. As toddler he roamed the streets of the village. Then someone found him and brought him to me.” Samira was nearly crying. Deamhanna nodded with a blank expression. “That’s horrible.” Vikadie said while she hugged Samira. “We are going to find him. I promise.” Alexander looked around. “Where are Sophie and the others. I expected them by now.” “Sophie is in the dining hall with her sister. I don’t know exactly where the others are.” Before Samira was done talking, Vikadie already ran inside to get them.

After ten minutes they were back. Phlanaïda hugged Samira. “It will be alright, Samira.” Evangeline said while she mounted one of the extra horse. When everyone had mounted one of the horses, they trotted away. Sophie quickly waved back at Samira. “Deamhanna, you know everyone’s schedule, don’t you? Do you know if we have a busy day? Of not maybe we can search in the forest for Tom.” Alexander said. “I believe we all have an easy schedule.” Deamhanna said, after thinking for a minute. “Are you going to help us?” Vikadie asked while she went a bit faster to get next to her sister. “Sorry, I can’t. I have to do something else.” Vikadie got scared when her sister galloped away, without warning. Cal had expected it and raced after her. He quickly went past her and set his horse in her path. “Where do you think you are going?” He yelled angrily. “You never help us and you always just leave when we ask you about it. You are hiding something, aren’t you.” Deamhanna looked him angrily in the eyes. “Step aside or I can’t guarantee your safety.” Cal pulled at the reins as sign that he wasn’t going to move anywhere. “I am not going anywhere.” He bit at her. Deamhanna let her horse walk back a few steps. The horse shook his head. Cal all of the sudden got scared. He couldn’t react in time anymore. Diablo reared and knocked him out of the saddle. Deamhanna steered around him and galloped away. Vikadie quickly went after Cal’s horse, because it was running away in a panic. Sophie jumped from her horse and ran towards Cal’s unconscious body. “Cal, is everything alright? Cal, wake up.” Vikadie came riding back. Cal’s horse was calmly following her. When she saw Sophie sitting next to Cal, she threw a little waterbag at her. “Maybe he wakes up if you pour some water over his face.” Sophie tried it and after a few hours Cal indeed woke up. “What happened? I can only remember that I tried to stop Deamhanna and that I fell. After that everything went black.” “We thought she was going to kill you. Her horse reared and after that you fell.” Evangeline said shocked. “She is very strange sometimes. But we need to go back to the castle.” Alexander said. Cal stood up and walked towards his horse. After a few steps he almost fell. Sophie ran towards him and helped him stand. She helped him mount his horse. Sophie mounted her own horse and together with alexander they rode next to Cal, to make sure that he wouldn’t fall of his horse.


	9. The preparations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried something new with the formatting. So i hope it works like i want it to.

Deamhanna was walking towards the library of the castle. She quickly took some books and then went on her way towards her office. She locked the door and walked towards her writing desk. She took her diary out of the drawer. She opened the book on the last page that was written on.  
 ** _Date 16 November 1332  
Sebastian is more and more mentally broken. I think that I need to continue for a little while. Then I can take him to the hunting castle._**

****

**_Date 18 November 1332  
I can’t stop this. I can’t hold it back. I want to stop it, but it’s just impossible. I asked father if he could free her, but he thinks it’s not safe._ **

****

**_Date 20 November 1332  
Last night I took Sebastian to the hunting castle. I have him completely in my control and he will do anything I ask. I am going to look for my next victim._ **

****

**_Date 25 December 1332  
I have found my new victim. He is a boy from the orphanages and he works in the stables at the castle. I don’t trust him around me and the horses. Maybe he finds out about my secret. He is a smart boy after all. I need to act, before he does._ **

Deamhanna took a feather and quickly wrote a short report about the last few days. When she was done she put the diary back in the drawer. She took an empty piece of parchment out. She wrote a short letter and gave it to one of her falcons. “Bring this letter to the forest. You know where.” She send the falcon away through an open window. Deamhanna sat back down at her writing desk and took the first book from the pile. She blew the dust from the cover. The book was about the history of Scotland. She started reading and taking notes on a piece of parchment.

After a few hours she closed the book. She left her office and went down the stairs. Halfway down the stairs walked into Cal. He looked at her with hate in his eyes. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you. I’m also very sorry for what happened in the forest. I got scared and Diablo spooked because of me. I hope you weren’t hurt that badly.” “You didn’t get scared.” Cal snapped. Cal wanted to continue talking, but when he looked into her eyes it felt like a spell came over him. He calmed down and Deamhanna pulled him close for a kiss. “I knew you would forgive me.” She whispered.

Vikadie and Sophie were laughing while they were walking through the castle. “What shall we do? Shoot with an bow and arrow? Horse riding? Do you want to learn how to fly an owl or a falcon?” “Shall we ask if we can help in the kitchen? I want to bake something.” Sophie said. “That is an amazing plan. I am hungry and maybe I can take an apple while I am there.” They ran towards the kitchen. “Hello, May. Can we help you with making something? We are bored.” Vikadie said with a smile. “Of course, we are preparing the food for tonight. We have black pudding, haggis and some vegetables. It’s not a very big diner today.” May said while she took a bowl and put in some vegetables. Vikadie started helping one of the other kitchen maids with cleaning the tableware and Sophie helped with preparing the meat. Vikadie started a conversation with the girl she was helping. “What is your name?” “My name is Nuala.” “Nice to meet you. How long have you worked at the castle?” “I work since 6 years in the kitchen, but I have lived my whole life at the castle. My whole family are servants and maids.” Vikadie nodded. “So you have been with the royal family for a long time. I heard that a lot of people have been fired through the years.” “Well, yeah. But they are quite happy with my family. So I don’t think they will fire me.” Than they stayed silent for a little while. “Can I ask you something, Vikadie?” She nodded. “What is the relation between Cal and Deamhanna?” Vikadie looked a little confused. “I don’t know. I believe they were supposed to marry at some point, but after somethings happened I think their relation crumbled a bit. Why are you asking?” “When I walked outside to get some herbs I saw Cal and Deamhanna kiss on the stairs. And I don’t see them together in public very often. So I got a bit confused.” Sophie and Vikadie looked at each other. Than Vikadie shook her head in confusion. “I shall ask Deamhanna about it. I didn’t expect it.” “Is the food ready?” Mat asked from the other side of the kitchen. “Yes, everything is ready here.” Nuala answered. “I will go to the dining hall.” Vikadie said.  
  
Vikadie wanted to walk out of the kitchen, when the door swung open. Deamhanna walked in stately. Immediately a dead silence fell over the whole kitchen. Deamhanna looked around the kitchen with a satisfied grin. “Is the food ready? We have been waiting for at least 10 minutes now.” She looked once again through the kitchen. Her eyes fell on Sophie. “Of course you are here, when something goes wrong in the castle here.” She snapped at her. “That is not true. They have tried really hard to get everything ready in time.” Vikadie was the only one to stand up against Deamhanna. However, Deamhanna was still taller than Vikadie so she still wasn’t that impressed. “For this one time I will let it slip.” Deamhanna hissed. She turned on her heels and hurried back to the dining hall. Vikadie turned around towards May and Sophie. “Hurry, Deamhanna is in a bad mood and you don’t want problems with her than. She has quite the influence in the castle. And she isn’t that scared to twist the truth.” Sophie looked at Vikadie with a confused expression. “Are you saying your sister is good at lying?” She asked. “Yes, kind of. Why?” Sophie looked Vikadie dead in the eyes. “What if she has been laying all this time? What if Call was right all along? Then she would know something about the disappearance.” Vikadie stared into the void with a shocked expression. “I will go after it.” She said quickly. Then she left the kitchen.  
Vikadie ran into the dining hall. “Vikadie from Aberdeen, you are very late!” Her mother said stern. Vikadie saw that Deamhanna was sitting up proudly and straight in her chair. “I wish you would take an example from your sister someday. She is always on time and her clothes are never covered in mud and dirt.” Her mother looked down at the hem of Vikadie’s dress. Vikadie quickly took her place next to Deamhanna. Alexander and Cal were seated on the opposite of the table. “Is that boy already found? That stableboy?” The king asked. “No, Father. So I already found two new girls who are going to work at the stables. That boy is probably murdered by some kind of animal in the forest.” Deamhanna said calmly. “I don’t believe that. I have been in the forest not so long ago and I didn’t see any traces of blood or anything else that meant that a fight had happened.” Cal said. “We can try to look for him tomorrow.” Alexander said quickly. “And Sophie and the others can help us as well.” Vikadie added. “That sounds like a plan. I will participate. But now we need Deamhanna to help us.” Cal said. “Of course I will tag along. Apart from Vikadie, I know the forest the best out of all of us.” Deamhanna said. “Can Sophie and the others sleep her at the castle? That way we can start searching first thing in the morning.” Vikadie looked sweetly at her mother. “Alright, sweetheart. But now you have to eat first.” “I am going to my room, mother. I want to ride in the forest this evening.” Deamhanna stood up from the table and walked away. The queen tried to stop her, but Deamhanna already closed the door.

Deamhanna quickly ran to her room. She closed the door of her room behind her. She quickly switched the dress she was wearing for a dark brown dress. Then she took her cape and tied it around her shoulders. She ran down the stairs towards the stables. She walked over to the hall where the stables of the execution horses were. She saddle the Irish cob and took some ropes which she tied to the halter of the two friesians. She took the three horses out to the courtyard. Quickly she mounted the Irish cob and she tied the ropes to her saddle. Then she quickly galloped towards the forest.  
After about thirty minutes she arrived at the hunting castle of the royal family. She put the two friesians in the stable and then she quickly returned to the castle with her Irish cob. Cal was waiting for her when she came back. Sophie and Alexander were standing a bit farther away, quite determined with what they knew. Vikadie was also standing with them, but she looked defeated and lost. “Where have you been? And where have you left the other horses?” Cal asked. “What do you mean? I have no idea.” Deamhanna looked a bit taken aback. “I brought the horses to the forest paddock.” She quickly recovered. “Of course.” Cal murmured. “I personally believe that you are lying and that you know more about the disappearance.” Deamhanna was thinking as fast as possible. She softly started to laugh. Cal got startled and took a few steps back. “Alright, you are on to me.” Deamhanna said. Cal looked confused. “I have been looking for the culprit myself. And I think I found a lot od traces that will lead to the culprit.” She said proudly. Sophie looked amazed. “Really? I didn’t expect that.” “No, me neither.” Cal said with less optimism. “I am going to but my horse back in to the stable. So if you could excuse me.” Deamhanna rode past the group and dismounted her horse. She took the horse to it’s stable and took of all the tack. She quickly hang the tack in the tack room. She closed the door of the stables and walked back to the castle.


	10. The unplanned execution

In the middle of the night, Deamhanna left her bed. So quietly switched her night gown for the dark brown dress she had been wearing before. She tied her cape around her shoulders and walked down to the dungeons. As soon as she walked into the hall with cells, she could hear Tom scream for help. She quickly pulled open the door of his cell. He looked up with hope in his eyes, when he saw the door open. But as soon as he saw that it was Deamhanna, the hope faded from his eyes. He sank down to the floor. Without saying anything, Deamhanna walked over to the handcuffs. She quickly opened the handcuffs and replaced them for a sturdy rope, which she tied around his wrists. “Stand up, you murderer. I have quite the strict schedule.” She snapped. “I am not a murderer! What are you talking about?” He screamed. “I know who your father was. And if you are just like him, you are a murderer. And if you scream one more time, I will hurt you.” She pulled him up and pulled him out of the cell. He struggled a lot, but Deamhanna pulled him along.  
In the stables she tied him down to one of the rings that was embedded in the wall. She quickly saddled Diablo. When he was ready she went over to the Irish cob. She hung baskets over his back and then quickly put the quartering tack in them. Tom looked shocked and when Deamhanna untied the rope from the ring in the wall, he tried to pull the rope out of her hands. Deamhanna swiftly took a stronger grip on the rope. “Good try, but you wont succeed.” Defeated Tom let himself be taken away by Deamhanna.

After a long trip they arrived at the hunting castle. Deamhanna could already see Sebastian waiting for her. Sebastian was the boy she had broken before. He had also been working at the stables. Deamhanna quickly jumped down from her horse and pushed the rope into Sebastian’s hands. “Hold this. I have to care for the horses for a second.” Tom sank down onto his knees. He was tired from walking the whole path to here. He looked at Deamhanna with fear in his eyes. Deamhanna took the tack from the baskets and quickly put them on the horses. When she had tacked up all four of the horses, she walked over to Tom. She pulled him on his feet. Tom was shaking on his legs. He tripped while he tried to get back from her. “No! Please! Let me go. I will do anything for you. Just let me go.” “Please, shut up.” Deamhanna grabbed him by the shoulder en pushed him to the centre of the courtyard. She put the handcuffs that were connected to the two friesians around his wrists. She quickly took the Irish cob and clicked the handcuff that was connected to his tack around Tom’s ankle. Lastly she called Diablo over and attached him to Tom’s other ankle. Deamhanna looked at all the horses. “Boys, walk!” Tom screamed in pain when his muscled got stretched. With an evil grin Deamhanna turned around. “Even though I love watching this, I am going to hide in the castle. In case someone passes by here.” Deamhanna quickly walked into the castle.

After thirty minutes Deamhanna walked back out onto the courtyard. She immediately saw that she had succeeded. Tom was dead. However, she was surprised to see that the horses had already been taken away from the body. Angrily Deamhanna looked around. She could hear someone cry. Quickly she followed the sound. In a corner of the stables she found Phlanaïda crying. “Come out of that stable.” Deamhanna said calm. Phlanaïda got scared and looked up. “Oh, your highness. What are you doing here? Have you seen what happened to Tom?” She asked while she wiped her eyes. Deamhanna knelt down next to her. “I saw what happened. It’s tragic. I just want to ask you something. Can you show me your hands?” She asked in a sickly sweet voice. Phlanaïda quickly showed her hands. They were covered in blood. Slowly a crazy smile appeared on Deamhanna’s face. “I have the perfect idea to push these accusations away from me.” Deamhanna whispered. “How did you get here?” “I rode here on the draft horse that is owned by the orphanage.” Phlanaïda tried to hide in the corner again. “Where is that horse now?” Deamhanna asked. “Just outside the gates. I climbed through the fence of the gate.” Phlanaïda explained. She kept her eyes locked on Deamhanna. “That’s good. Very good.” Deamhanna said coldly. “Listen to me. You will obey every order I give you. If you don’t obey me, I will make your life and the life of your sister a living hell. And you don’t want to end like your boyfriend Tom over there.” Deamhanna hissed. “He is not my boyfriend. I didn’t even like him…” “Silence. Shut your mouth. We are going to ride back to the castle together and you won’t say a word. Understood?” Phlanaïda nodded silently. Deamhanna quickly took al the tack from the horses and put the baskets back in the Irish cob. She threw the tack in the baskets and quickly tied ropes to the halters of the horses. Before she mounted Diablo, she called Sebastian over. “Clean the courtyard while I am gone.” He nodded and bowed to her. “I shall do as you say.” Deamhanna rode over to where Phlanaïda was waiting on her horse. “Follow me. And don’t try anything stupid.” Deamhanna snapped, while she galloped away. She heard that Phlanaïda was following her close behind. Deamhanna let out an evil chuckle and Phlanaïda shrunk in on herself. She was so scared.


	11. Investigation

When Deamhanna and Phlanaïda arrived back at the castle, Cal, Vikadie, Sophie and the queen were waiting at the courtyard. “There she is mother.” Vikadie said, while she pointed at Deamhanna. The queen quickly turned around and looked at her daughter. “Sweetheart, I am so happy to see you. Where have you been? We thought you had been abducted.” The queen exclaimed with tears in her eyes. “I am fine, mother. I did however found out who abducted and killed that stableboy.” Deamhanna let her horse take a few steps to the left so they all could see Phlanaïda. Sophie covered her mouth in shock when she saw her little sister crying. “What? No! My sister couldn’t have done it. That’s impossible.” Deamhanna took the tack from one of the friesians out of the baskets and threw it in front of Sophie. “Can you tell me what kind of tack this is?” Deamhanna asked calmly. Sophie was too shocked to answer. “That is the tack that is used for the executions.” Cal snapped. “Very good.” Deamhanna said. “Now can you tell me what you can see on that piece of tack.” She pointed to the handcuffs. “That’s blood.” Sophie stammered. Cal looked angrily at Deamhanna. “What are you trying to do.” He hissed softly. Deamhanna looked at Phlanaïda. “Show them your hands.” Without saying anything, she put her hands in the air, so they all could see them. The dried blood was clearly visible. “But why, Phlanaïda?” Sophie sobbed. “How? What? Why did you do this.” Sophie fell to her knees before Deamhanna’s horse. Cal knelt down next to her and laid his hand on her shoulder. He kept his gaze locked at Deamhanna. “I will find out what your plan is.” He whispered under his breath. “your highness, please. I beg you. Please, make sure they don’t execute my sister. She is the only person I have left.” Deamhanna hid a smile behind her hand. “You know I have nothing to say about that. I only care for the horses that are used for the execution. I have nothing to say about who is getting executed and why.” Deamhanna looked at the queen. She nodded to some guards who took Phlanaïda to the castle. Deamhanna quickly dismounted her horse and took al four of her horses to the stables. Vikadie followed with the draft horse that Phlanaïda had ridden. “How is this possible? I suspected everyone, but not her.” Vikadie sighed, while she took the saddle off the horse. “I don’t know.” Deamhanna said with acted confusion. Together with her sister she placed all the tack back in the tack room. Vikadie quickly ran to the castle, while Deamhanna slowly followed her. The castle was dead quiet. A servant maid walked up to the two princesses and told them that everyone was in the courtroom. Vikadie ran to the door. When Deamhanna arrived at the door, her sister was waiting anxiously. “Just step inside. What is the worst that could happen?” Deamhanna said coldly. “Sophie could lose her sister.” Her sister snapped back at her. She looked straight at Deamhanna. “I don’t know you like this. You act like a completely different person.” Vikadie yelled, while tears started to fill her eyes. She pushed open the door and walked in. She wiped tears from her eyes.  
The king was seated upon a throne on a balcony on the other side of the room. He looked out over the whole room. The queen was standing next to him. On the side of the room there were two compartments were the people could stand to watch the trail. In one of the compartments Sophie was seated. She was crying and Cal sat next to her trying to comfort and encourage her. Evangeline was also there, crying. She was seated close to Alexander. Kathleena was pacing back and forth. For a short moment her eyes crossed with Deamhanna. She quickly looked away.

The king stopped talking with the queen and looked at his daughters. “Ah, look. The princesses have arrived. Both of you can join me up here on the balcony.” He said. Deamhanna walked over stately towards her father, while Vikadie ran towards Sophie and the others. “Vikadie, what are you doing?” Deamhanna snapped. “I don’t want to be held responsible for whatever you choose to do. I want to help Sophie.” Vikadie yelled back. Deamhanna furiously turned her back on her and hurried up the stairs towards her father’s throne.

The king told his guards to get the prisoner. Phlanaïda willingly walked in between the guards. She glared angrily at Deamhanna, who answered her gaze with a grin. Phlanaïda looked up at the king. “Your Majesty. I didn’t murder Tom. I promise you.” She yelled. “She is right. She can’t possible have done that.” Sophie sobbed. “She is a murderer! I have seen it myself.” Deamhanna snapped back at Sophie. “The only possibility is that it’s Deamhanna. Everything points at her.” Cal exclaimed, while he stood up. The queen walked over to the king. “Can you think a bit longer about this. She is just a young girl.” She whispered. Deamhanna heard it. “Mother, she is a murderer. We have punish her just like all the other murderers.” She said. “I say we sentence her to death. As we should.” Sophie stood up. “Your majesty, please. She is the only one I have left. Please let her go.” She begged. Deamhanna looked sternly at her father. He seemed to have it difficult with the decision. The king sighed. “I have to agree with Deamhanna on this. I have to sentence Phlanaïda. I have to sentence her to death.” He said. Sophie ran towards her sister and hugged her, while she started crying. The guards tried to get her away, but the king said that they had to let her go. Cal also stood up. “Your majesty, No! She couldn’t possibly have done it. How did Deamhanna knew where she had to be at what time?” He yelled. “It was pure coincidence that I passed by there.” Deamhanna said. “Oh sure. And how did Phlanaïda know how to use the execution tack.” This time to everyone’s surprise, Phlanaïda answered. “It’s not that difficult. I saw how you opened the handcuffs and what pieces had to be fastened. So if you know how to open everything, you also know how to fasten everything.” Cal stared at Phlanaïda with wide eyes and Deamhanna sat back down, looking triumphant. “You got to be kidding me.” Cal murmured. “I win.” Deamhanna whispered under her breath. The guards brought Phlanaïda down to the dungeons. Sophie looked up to Deamhanna. “When?” Sophie sobbed. “In about two days.” Deamhanna said calm.

The next day Deamhanna was working in her office. Vikadie, Alexander, Kathleena, Evangeline, Cal and Sophie had saddle some of the horses and were going on investigation. “What are we searching for?” Evangeline asked. “Evidence that proves that my sister isn’t a murderer.” Sophie said. “They came from the direction of the hunting castle. Let’s go there first.” Vikadie said while she galloped away. The others followed her immediately. “I have seen a lot from my sister. But she is so bitter and cold. I have never seen her like this.” Vikadie said. “You are right. I don’t know Deamhanna that well and she was always a bit bitter and stern, but this is unusual even for her.” Alexander said while leaning forward in his horse’s neck. It didn’t take to long before they arrived at the castle. When they entered the courtyard, they were shocked to see the dried up blood that was left in the middle. They all dismounted their horses. Sophie slowly walked over to the dry blood. “I can’t believe he died here. All alone. And probably in a lot of pain.” She said with a weak voice. Cal placed his hand on her shoulder. “I know. But we have to start looking around here. To avenge Tom and to save your sister. They walked into the castle. “Shall we split up. That way we can find things faster.” Alexander proposed. “No, if Deamhanna hides here now and then, we don’t know what to expect. It’s safer if we stay together.” Cal said immediately. They searched the whole ground floor. Al of the sudden Vikadie stopped. “What’s wrong? Did you found something? Or did you hear something?” Evangeline asked. “In the dungeons.” Vikadie said. “Alright, wait here.” Cal said. He quickly ran the other way. The rest of the group looked at each other. After about ten minutes he came back. He held two swords and a bow with arrows. He threw one of the swords to Alexander. He caught the sword skilfully out of the air and swung it around for a second. Cal gave Vikadie the bow and the arrows. She smiled and placed an arrow on the bow. “Now we can protect ourselves and each other.” Cal said. He was the first to go down the starts to the dungeon. Sophie, Evangeline and Kathleena followed him and Alexander and Vikadie closed the group. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they were faced with a maze of cells. “I can hear sounds from there.” Alexander said while pointing into one of the halls. “Let’s go.” Vikadie said while she ran into the hall. “Vikadie, stay here. You don’t know who it is.” Cal yelled after her. “It’s alright. It’s just a person. He is quite scared. I am also aiming a bow at him.” Vikadie yelled back. Cal laughed softly. They ran to join Vikadie. A man with brown hair was huddled in the corner. His green-blue eyes were filled with tears. He looked with fear it the group. “Who are you? I didn’t expect strangers. I expected someone else.” He said nervous. “Who did you expect?” Cal asked, posing as the leader of the group. “I can’t tell you, sir. I am sorry.” The young man crawled further into the corner. “Who are you and how old are you?” Vikadie asked sternly. The others looked at her surprised. “What? Mother said I had to take an example from my sister. So then I will do that.” Vikadie said smartly. “My name is Sebastian and I believe I am 21 years old.” The man said. Sophie stepped forward. “Sebastian, who did you expect? It could be very useful for us. There is a murderer in this forest and we are trying to find out who it is. Maybe you know more.” She asked friendly. “A girl possessed by the devil. She has hair as black as death and she has dark brown eyes that slowly turn red when you look in them. Her horses are like a herd of black demons. She rides the biggest and strongest of the four.” He said quietly. Cal and Vikadie looked at each other. “Did that girl wear a brown dress?” Vikadie asked. “Yes, yes. She did.” The man nodded. “He looks stressed. What if he has been tortured? Then it could have been Deamhanna.” Immediately Sebastian crawled away in fear. “Was it Deamhanna?” Cal asked. Sebastian nodded. “We are not like her. I am Vikadie. Deamhanna is my sister, but I promise I am nothing like her.” She said calmly, while she put down the bow. “You can trust us. If you tell us everything you know about Deamhanna that would help us.” Sebastian nodded. “Come with us. We are going outside first. That’s a bit better than down here in the dark.” Sophie said.

When the group was outside, Sophie asked the first question. “Did you help Deamhanna with things? We think she has murdered people.” She asked calmly. “Yes, sadly I have. I was one of her victims. She left me alive, but she killed two of my friends.” He said. “Every few months she would come back with a new victim. Yesterday she also arrived with a victim.” Everyone looked at each other. “My sister is innocent. I knew it.” Sophie said. “We not there yet, Sophie.” Cal said. “Was that the girl that hid in the stables? What happened to her? Is she alive? Deamhanna was furious when she found her.” Sebastian asked. “Was Phlanaïda here in the stables?” Alexander asked. “If she saw everything, why didn’t she say anything?” “Alexander, my friend. She would have to compete with Deamhanna. And I can tell you for sure who would win that discussion. Of course she doesn’t say anything.” Vikadie said. Cal took back the lead. “Phlanaïda has been imprisoned and will be executed tomorrow. We try to show that she is innocent.” He explained. “I want to help.” Sebastian started to calm down. “That’s awesome. We are going back to the castle. But who can take Sebastian with them. We didn’t expect to take someone back with us.” Sophie said. “I think it’s best that someone who rides a draft takes him with them. So either Sophie or Vikadie.” Cal said. “He can ride with me on Angus. Angus is really easy.” Vikadie said quickly. “Alright, then we ride back to the castle.” Their horses were still waiting on the courtyard. Vikadie mounted her horse and reached behind her back to Sebastian. He took her hand. With a bit of help from the others, she pulled him on the horse. The others mounted their horses and they all trotted away.


	12. Delay in the plan

Deamhanna calmly walked towards the stables. She would reward her horses for what they have done. When she arrived at the stables she saw a white shire entering the stables. When she got closer she saw that Samira was riding the horse. She stopped next to Deamhanna. “Where is your father?” She asked. “He is inside, he has a meeting with some guards.” Deamhanna said, while she started to walk past her. “I don’t care.” Samira jumped down and pushed the reins of her horse in Deamhanna’s hands. Deamhanna sighed and brought the horse to an empty stable. After that she walked over to her horses. They all looked interested over the door of the stables. She picked apples from the feeding room for all the horses. She also took some brushes with her. She started brushing Diablo.  
After a little while she heard hoofs coming towards the stables. She looked over the door of the stables. She got scared when she saw the others arrive. She quickly hid under the manger in Diablo’s stable. She heard the others put their horses in their stables. “We need to find the king. We can safe Phlanaïda.” Sophie said. “I will go wait around with Sebastian. Deamhanna can’t know that he is here.” The group split and Deamhanna waited until all of them had left the stables. When she was sure all of them had left, she came out of hiding. She petted Diablo on his nose. “I am sorry. I have to go back to the castle.” Deamhanna quickly ran back to the castle. She heard voices come from the meeting room. The servant by the door opened it when they saw Deamhanna approach. Samira had an angry look on her face. Her gaze was locked on the king. The king looked at Deamhanna. “Ah, my little girl. I am happy to see you. You can help me.” Deamhanna acted surprised. “What is the problem, father?” She asked sweetly. “Samira want us to free Phlanaïda. Do you think th-“ For the first time in her life, she interrupted her father. “No, we are not going to do that! She is a murderer.” Deamhanna said aggressively. She quickly calmed herself. “We could however move it to two days later. If you can find the real murderer before the execution we will free Phlanaïda.” Deamhanna looked at Cal and the others. “Alright, I agree with that plan.” Cal said, while looking unseen at the others. “That is better, yes. That way the execution isn’t on the same day as the coronation.” The king said. The others looked at each other, startled. “What did you say?” Vikadie asked. “Your sister is going to be queen. I am getting to old to protect the kingdom. So that’s why Deamhanna will be queen.” Deamhanna looked at Vikadie with an evil grin. “Did I forget to tell you? Probably because I have been so busy.” Vikadie looked at the others. This was not what they needed right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a really short chapter. I know. The others will be longer. It's just that i couldn't think of more information to put in this chapter.


	13. Commotion at the coronation

It was the day of the coronation. Vikadie was running to the entry hall of the castle. She had promised to meet the others there. When she arrived there everyone was there, except for Sebastian. “Where is he?” She asked anxiously. If Sebastian was gone they no longer had prove that Deamhanna was behind the disappearances. “I have no idea. I thought that he was with Cal and Alexander.” Sophie said. “Yesterday he was with us in our room, but this morning he was not in our room anymore.” Cal said. Alexander sighed. “I also lost my sword. It’s gone. My sword is not that incredibly of a weapon, but it’s still a problem.”

Deamhanna slowly walked down the stairs. She was wearing a beautiful dark blue dress. In the entry hall she saw the others standing in a group. Cal was the first to notice her. He wanted to angrily walk up to her, but Vikadie blocked him. “Follow my lead whether you like it or not.” She whispered. Vikadie turned towards Deamhanna and made a deep bow. “Your majesty, I didn’t see you there. What brings you this early to the hall?” The others all bowed down, except for Cal. Vikadie saw it and hit him in the side. He quickly also bowed down. Deamhanna smiled happily. “You don’t have to do that, Vikadie. I am still your sister. From the others I think it’s a nice gesture.” Vikadie quickly got to her feet. “Where are you going?” She asked. “I am going to walk through the castle. Now I still have the free time to do so.” Deamhanna said. She quickly went outside to the courtyard. Cal watched her. “She is a monster and I have to show that to everyone. I have to proof it today.” He murmured angrily.

Deamhanna walked over the courtyard. A few servants were busy, but beside them there was no one. That was good for Deamhanna’s plan. She walked towards the tack room. She picked up the dagger and sword she had hidden there. She quickly went back to the castle, but when she got closer she saw that the others were still in the hall. She immediately changed route to another door that lead to the dungeons. She took the key from Phlanaïda’s cell. She slowly opened the door. “You are lucky. Your execution has been delayed.” Deamhanna grinned while she entered the cell.   
Deamhanna placed the sword against the wall and fastened her grip around the dagger. She walked towards Phlanaïda. She looked away. Phlanaïda knew that if she resisted she would die right here and right now. Deamhanna placed the dagger against Phlanaïda’s throat. She immediately held her breath. With a quick movement Deamhanna sliced Phlanaïda’s throat. Phlanaïda wanted to scream because of the pain, but she held it in. She felt the blood slowly drip from the wound. She glanced at Deamhanna with an angry look, but she noticed that her eye-sight was fading. Everything slowly went black. She heard Deamhanna shriek and the sound of swords against each other. After that she fainted.

Deamhanna had turned around when she heard footsteps behind her. Sebastian was behind her. He held Alexander’s sword and was ready to strike Deamhanna. Deamhanna shrieked and jumped towards the corner where she had put the swords. She landed on her knees. She quickly picked it up and blocked the attack. She pushed him back and scrambled to her feet. She rushed past him so she was standing in the hallway of the dungeon. “Sebastian, you obeyed me. You only trusted me. Others would never be your friend. Your family is to rotten for that.” She hissed. “Yes, but you lied.” He yelled. He stormed towards her enraged. Deamhanna blocked the attack and looked at him with rage filled eyes. “Than we just see who wins.” Deamhanna had her back turned towards the stairs, so she didn’t know that the other had come down the stairs. The were shocked by what the saw, so they all held their breath to not give away that they were there as well. “You have crashed my whole plan.” Deamhanna snapped. She pulled her sword back, furiously ran around him and stabbed him in the back. He screamed in pain and fell to his knees. He tried to defend himself, but he knew it was impossible. He looked where Cal was standing and he threw his sword in his direction. Cal caught the sword. He looked with wide eyes at Deamhanna. He wasn’t prepared for this fight. Deamhanna her sword through Sebastian’s chest. He immediately went limp. Deamhanna looked defiantly at Cal. In the end Deamhanna was the first to attack. While Deamhanna and Cal were fighting, Alexander slipped past them to get Sebastian’s body out of the way. Cal and Deamhanna were to focussed on each other to notice anything. Cal skilfully dodged the attack and thought that he could attack now, but Deamhanna blocked his attack. “So you do learn something in those fighting lessons.” She grinned psychotically, while she tried to push his sword out of his hands. Cal Faintly grinned. “I have to say. For a princess you can estimate quite well when to attack someone.” He fastened his grip around the hilt of his sword. “For a knight, you fight like a donkey.” She snapped. Her voice sounded different than normal. Cal was shocked by it, but he couldn’t afford to let himself be distracted. Deamhanna pulled her sword back and quickly ran past Cal. While she ran past she stabbed sideways. She felt that she hit him and with as much aggression she pulled the sword back. Cal fell to his knees. He made sure Deamhanna stayed at a distance. He scrambled back to his feet.  
Cal took a few other hits and slowly started to plan out something. It was clear he couldn’t win this by just fighting. He knew one of the stone in the floor was a little bit higher than the others. With a bit of difficulty he there. Deamhanna didn’t see the stone and fell hard to the ground. Her sword fell behind her. She looked up in shock. “Cal, please. Don’t kill me. I beg you. I can explain.” She whispered. “I believe you can explain everything. We will see how you explain this to your parents. And I would never kill you, I am not a monster.” Cal snapped, while he put the point of the sword against her throat. Deamhanna tried to crawl out from underneath the sword, but Cal put a little bit more pressure on the sword. She immediately stopped crawling away. “You aren’t going anywhere.” He motioned to Alexander that he had to come over to help him. Alexander took Deamhanna’s arms and held her in place. Cal put his sword aside and took Deamhanna over from his brother. Hu pulled her along to one of the empty cells. With a bit of difficulty he locked her wrists in the handcuffs. Deamhanna tried to pull the cuffs of her wrists, while Cal left the cell. “Your not going to succeed in that mission. You probably know that all to well.” He said coldly, before he closed the door.  
Sophie was in the cell by her sister. She was seated next to her sister and was slowly petting her hair and whispered that she had to stay with them. They had come so far to get her out, so they weren’t going to give up now.

Evangeline and Kathleena went upstairs to get Samira and the king. Cal walked over to Sophie. He immediately saw the wound on Phlanaïda’s neck. ”She has to go to hospital wing, right now. Maybe they can help her.” Sophie looked at him. “But look at you. She got you as well.” Cal just now realised there was a sting in his side. He slowly moved his hand there. He immediately felt that the fabric of his tunic had become wet and hot with blood. He bit his lip and focused on not fainting. He needed to be a leader now. “Cal, you have to go to the hospital wing as well.” Sophie said sternly. “Sophie, I’m fine. I promise.” Samira came running down the stairs. “Where are you, guys? I heard you found the real murderer.” She said worried. “Samira, we are here. Most of us are not wounded.” Cal yelled. Samira quickly ran towards them. She immediately saw Phlanaïda’s wound. She knelt down next to her. Sophie let Phlanaïda go, so that Samira could hold her. “Please tell me you can help her. I don’t want to lose her.” Sophie sobbed. Samira looked at the wound. “She is lucky that it isn’t that deep, but losing blood has weakened her.” Samira looked at Cal. “The king is comes soon. Where have you left the murderer?” Cal pointed to the cell next to them. “Who was it?” Samira asked. She softly placed Phlanaïda back on the floor and swiftly stood up. She walked with Cal over to the next cell. “It was Deamhanna.” Cal said calmly while he opened the door to the cell.

Deamhanna noticed that the door opened and she quickly tried to run at the door. She stopped when she felt the chains tug at her arms to make sure she wouldn’t fall back. “You are smarter than I thought.” She hissed. Cal now definitely heard that her voices was different from what it was normally. Deamhanna’s irises had turned to a sickly blood-red colour. “You’re the devil.” Cal snapped. “That is indeed what my name means, but that doesn’t make me the devil.” She said with a small hint of pride. “You should be proud of the fact that your name references the devil. You should be ashamed.” Cal yelled. His head shot up when he heard the king arrived. Cal was always a bit intimidated by the king. So Cal took a place a bit behind Samira. “Father, help! They think that I murdered Tom.” Deamhanna screamed. She sounded scared. The king ran towards them. Samira stopped him. “Your majesty, listen. It’s not what you think. Deamhanna wounded Phlanaïda and we are sure that she also murdered Tom.” “She also murdered Sebastian. We saw it happen. She didn’t show mercy. Not for a second.” Cal added.  
“Is that true?” The king thundered. Cal quickly took a step back. Vikadie approached them. She wasn’t able to look at her sister. “Father, they are right. We all saw how Deamhanna killed Sebastian without batting an eye.” Vikadie pointed to the two swords that were still covered in blood. The king looked at Deamhanna who had dropped to her knees, head hanging. “Is this true, Deamhanna?” He asked. “I can’t remember anything. I don’t know. Sometimes a remember little things, but most of it is blurry.” She said with a sad tone. “Father, do you think the devil possessed me? Or did she take me over? You know who I mean.” The king shook his head. Cal was done with everything. “Your majesty, I’m sorry. I don’t want to say this, but your daughter is a murderer. She has to be executed.”

The king seemed to hesitate. It was his own daughter after all. He sighed. “You are right. She is a danger to the country.” The last sentence seemed to hurt the king even more. Deamhanna madly glared at Cal. “You said you weren’t a murderer.” She hissed quietly. “I learned that I have to punish the bad people.” Cal said, before he left. The others left as well. Samira was the last to leave. She didn’t look at Deamhanna and just closed the door of the cell. Soon it was quiet again. Most people would panic, but Deamhanna stayed calm. She felt that she was losing control of her body again. She just let it happen. She softly heard a voice in her head. She recognized it, but she couldn’t place it. “ _I’m going to help you Deamhanna. Let me do this.”_ Deamhanna wanted to react, but it felt impossible. “ _Boys can you hear me?”_ Deamhanna got startled when she heard a new voice in her head. “ _What is the problem, D-“ “It’s not really me. You guys need to help my sister. She is imprisoned in the dungeons of the castle.” “Do we free her now?”_ A adult voice asked. “ _No, Darren. Not yet. It’s to dangerous. Warn the others. They will execute her in two days. That’s the moment you guys safe her. And after that the will experience something they never experienced before.”_ Deamhanna smiled softly. She had placed who the voice was that was helping her. “ _We will make sure that we are there to safe her. Do we need to ask the werewolves?” “Yes, but make sure they attack at the right moment. I don’t want them to kill you.”_ It stayed silent for a little while. Deamhanna thought the voices wouldn’t return, but the came back for one last answer. “ _We will come to safe her in two days.”_ The voices said. After that it really stayed silent. Deamhanna sighed. “Thank you, sister. I wouldn’t have known how to get out of this..” She softly whispered.


	14. Royal execution or escape..

Two days had past. Ealy in the morning the voices in Deamhanna’s head had explained the plan one more time. Deamhanna was quite confident that the plan would work.  
At around twelve o’clock Cal came down to the dungeons to get Deamhanna. She glared at him with an angry look. Her eyes were still red, instead of their natural brown colour. “I could just run now, yu know that right?” She asked while Cal escorted her to the stairs. Cal only responded by pushing her in front of him. At the courtyard it was very crowded. The whole village seemed to be there. Deamhanna grinned. More people to come and watch the show. Cal had dragged her over to the pile of wood that was set up in the middle of the courtyard. He tied her hands around the pole that was in the middle of the pile. After that he joined Alexander, Sophie and Vikadie who were standing on the left side of the courtyard. Deamhanna didn’t listen to what the king was saying. She was busy hoping that she would be saved by the people who had been talking to her in her head. Quickly she looked around the courtyard. At the back of the yard she saw a group of people whispering with each other. They stood out from the rest of the people. She was quite sure that were the people that were going to safe her.  
In her peripheral vision, she saw that her sister picked up her bow. Deamhanna looked her sister in the eyes. Vikadie quickly looked away. She just readied the bow and put a flaming arrow in. She pulled back the string of the bow and shot the arrow at the pile of wood under Deamhanna her feet. The wood slowly started burning and smoke started to rise. At that moment she heard a wolf howl. That was a part of the plan. Immediately there was chaos in the courtyard. Some people tried to find the werewolf, while others tried to get to safety. Deamhanna saw a young man run towards her. With a small dagger he cut the ropes. Deamhanna let herself fall in his arms. She didn’t want to admit, but the smoke had made her a bit weaker. “I will get you to safety. I promise. After that you can thank me.” The guy smiled. He pulled her away from the pile. “My name is Darren. Your name is Deamhanna, right?” Deamhanna nodded. “We need to get to the stables. We can take my horse.” Deamhanna looked back and saw that Alexander was running after them. He looked really angry. Darren and Deamhanna ran past al the commotion in to the stables. Darren threw his weapons in the saddlebags while Deamhanna quickly saddled her horse. She threw open the doors of her other horses. They immediately followed her. Darren mounted the horse and pulled Deamhanna on the horse. She quickly gripped around his waist. “Just hold on. I will get us out of here.” Darren spurred the horse on the gallop. The werewolves and other monsters followed them immediately when they saw Darren en Daiomean gallop out of the courtyard. Deamhanna looked back again. She saw that Cal had gathered a group of guards and was following them. Darren stopped the horse on top of a nearby hill. They waited until Cal had caught up to them. Cal had noticed that they stopped so he let his horse trot over to them. “Deamhanna, listen. You can come with us and no-one will get hurt. We can help you and we can talk about this.” Deamhanna felt the control of her body slip away again. Before she lost full control she tightened her grip around Darren, because she was scared to fall of the horse. She felt as if someone else was speaking with her voice. “Tubaist agus bhàis bidh an rìoghachd seilig. A-mhaìn mar dùthaich riaghladh tha le bhith ‘a vampire, werewolf no le bhith ‘a Deamhan, an uair sin hithidh seo mallachd thog a bhith.” While she said that, she noticed that the sky turned darker for a few moments. Deamhanna had never seen that happen before.  
Alexander looked at his brother. “What is happening?” He asked. Cal shook his head. “I don’t know. That was a older language. I only know that the king and queen can speak it. Deamhanna can understand it, but I never saw her speak it.” He said. Darren turned the horse around and galloped away. The monsters followed them. Cal wanted to follow them really badly, but he knew it wouldn’t be smart. He turned the group of guards around and led them back to the castle.


	15. Epilogue

It was around 4 months after the escape. More guards were implemented around the castle. Sophie, Kathleena, Evangeline and Phlanaïda were allowed to live at the castle, because it was to dangerous for them as long as Deamhanna was still out there. Sophie had spend more time with Cal and eventually she told him she loved him. She was scared for his reaction, but he told her he felt the same.  
It was early in the morning one day. Sophie was walking with the other girls towards the stables. Vikadie was walking in front of them. “Vikadie, are you sure you can’t tell us why we had to get to the stables?” “No Sophie. I have kept this secret for two months. That was quite difficult.” Vikadie smiled. They walked past the stables towards the riding arena. Cal was there with four horses. “I have never seen those horses. Where did they come from?” Cal smiled. “These horses were presents from other countries. And the horses are for you four. You can all choose one of the horses.” He explained. “Really?” Evangeline asked. “Of course. I made sure the horses were trained in secret and that everything was cared for, so that you four could just take the horses and treat them as your own. They are technically still horses from the castle, but we will never take them from you.” “I really love the cream coloured horse.” Phlanaïda said. Cal quickly looked which horse so meant. “Oh, that one. That is a lusitano. It’s from Portugal. It’s a really friendly and calm horse. Do you want him?” “Yes, he looks so cute and beautiful.” She said happily. Cal took the horse by it’s halter and tied a rope to it. He gave Phlanaïda the rope and she quickly brought him back to the stables. Kathleena chose a brown Andalusian en Evangeline chose a black Lipizzaner. Cal walked with them to the stables. He had told he would come back to Sophie in a minute. He just had to make sure everything was going alright over at the stables.  
Sophie looked at the last horse that was in the riding arena. It was a dapple grey shire. Carefully she walked towards the horse. It looked at her with confusion, but slowly approached her. When the horse was close it softly put it’s head on her shoulder. “She likes you. That surprises me actually.” A voice said from behind Sophie. She slowly turned around and the horse took a step back. Cal was leaning on the fence. “Why?” Sophie asked, while she petted the horse. “This horse is the only one of the four horses that came from somewhere here in Scotland. It was actually born in the royal stables here. It has been sold from owner to owner and now it’s back here. Deamhanna trained this horse when it was a foal together with someone else. But I don’t know who the other person was. This horse is the only think that reminds us of all the chaos.” He said. “But unlike Deamhanna, this horse is a real treasure.” He added with a smile. Sophie took the horse to the stables and saddled the horse. The others were ready and waiting at the courtyard. “Were are we going? We can’t go to the forest.” Sophie looked at the others. “We can go to the village.” Vikadie said, while she let her horse start walking.

They hadn’t even left the courtyard or Vikadie galloped away. Alexander and Phlanaïda followed her. “At the orphanages we have to go back to a walking pace!” Cal yelled after them. He looked at the other who were still with him. “Shall we do a slow canter?” They nodded.   
When they were close to the orphanages the took the horses back to a walk. Sophie looked at the building. The king had ordered that the building had to be renovated. The most beautiful, but also the saddest edition was the beautiful single tree with a marble cross underneath it. It was a monument for Tom, Sebastian and all those other boys that had been killed by Deamhanna. When the had past the orphanage the al started to trot again. “They got a beautiful monument.” Evangeline said. “Without them we would also be dead.” Kathleena said, while a chill went down her back. “We are still not completely safe. I will not rest until Deamhanna has been killed. She is too dangerous for this world.” Cal said.

After a long ride the arrived at the village. The people in the village were happy to see them. “Look, the children from the castle are here.” The mayor said. The people gathered around the group. Their horses were brought to the special stables.  
It was a lovely day. Everyone was talking to each other. Phlanaïda danced around with the villagers. Sophie and Cal quickly joined them.  
The atmosphere on the square turned rather quickly when a knight on a dark horse arrived. Cal was the first to notice that it was a knight from the castle. “Is there a problem, sir?” He asked. The knight looked like he had to choose his words carefully. “It.. ehm. It’s about the king. He was found.. dead in the armoury.” Cal looked shocked and confused. “What? What happened? How could this happen?” Cal looked at Vikadie. She also looked shocked. Not that he blamed her. She just lost her father. “Cal, you know what this means?” She said. Cal quickly shook his head. “They are probably going to make you king. I abdicated the throne when I was 9 years old. Beside that I know that father was always saying that he wanted you to be the king if none of his daughters could take over the country.” Vikadie explained. Vikadie quickly turned her attention towards the knight. “How did the king die? Are there signs of a struggle?” “There are signs that point towards a fight or a struggle, but there are no signs that indicate that there was another person with him in the room.” Cal looked at the floor. How could this happen. What Deamhanna had put a curse on the kingdom. He looked at the others. “We have to go back to the castle. Now.” All of them mounted their horses. “I promise you all that I will keep all of you safe and that I will find the person who did this.” Cal said to the villagers. Quickly the group rode back to the castle.

They arrived at the castle just before dark. The queen was waiting outside in the courtyard. “Oh thank god, all of you are safe.” She said. She walked with them to the stables. Vikadie quickly flew her mother around the neck. She completely broke down and started sobbing. One of the stableboys took care of Vikadie’s horse. “Why? Why did this have to happen to us? Haven’t we had enough?” She asked through her sobs. “I have no idea, but someday this will all be over.” The queen said softly. The queen looked at Cal, while she was still comforting Vikadie. “I am sure my husband would want you to be the new king of this country. Vikadie and I will help you with anything that you are not familiar with yet.” Cal bowed. “I will not disappoint you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the last chapter. This story is done now.  
> I have a part two ready to go. I only have to translate it, because it's written in dutch.  
> I am also going to start writing other stuff, so be sure to check my account.


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